Do you know the difference between contingency reserves and operating funds?
Operating funds are funds that our real estate brokerage uses to pay for our business. Operating funds are our money. Above all, escrow funds are different. Escrow funds are monies that Nesbitt Realty is holding on behalf of tenants, landlords, buyers and sellers. Escrow funds are not our money, but they are monies that we are trusted to safeguard. At any given time, Nesbitt Realty has hundreds of thousands of dollars in escrow accounts.
In Bristow, the Commonwealth of Virginia requires that all real estate licensees manage escrow funds in a particular manner. Most importantly the Commonwealth requires that escrow funds are properly accounted for at all times. In additional all escrow funds must be kept separate from operating funds. The biggest portion of our escrow funds are tenant security deposits, but also hold deposits for purchasers (and sometimes sellers) as we'll as contingency reserve funds for landlord clients.
Contingency reserve is a special type of escrow.
A contingency reserve account is money that is held in savings to pay for maintenance and other incidentals that occur during property management. Although the money is in our escrow account, the money belongs to the real estate investor. If the property management ends, that money is promptly returned to the landlord.
When a repair bill arises we use money in the contingency reserve account to pay that bill. When bills are paid in this manner the account is depleted. When the account is missing funds, at the end of the month when new rents are paid, Nesbitt Realty replenishes the count with money withheld from this rent. As property managers, Nesbitt Realty prepares a statement each month to show if/when money is depleted and how/when money is replenished into the contingency reserve account.
Owners do not pay us money to set up the contingency reserve account. Instead, Nesbitt Realty withholds money from the first month of rent in order to set up the account.
Bristow Rental Management Resources
Basics
Elementary information about what management services in Bristow.
Getting Started
Learn more about getting started with property management
Find A Tenant
List your property to rent to find a reliable renter in Bristow fast.
Accounting
How does Nesbitt Realty keep track of income and expenses for real estate investors?
Cost
A list of fees associated with rental management in Bristow
Vetting
How Nesbitt Realty checks the backgrounds of tenants for property owners.
Reserves
What is a contingency reserve account?
Territory
Where does Nesbitt Realty manage rentals?
Clients
Who uses Nesbitt Realty management services?
Do you need understand more about our community?
Our Guide to Real Estate is a handy tool for anyone who wants to learn more about Bristow and neighboring areas. The Guide to Real Estate provides information regarding what has sold and what is on the market, as well as some interesting facts that you may not know. Furthermore, our Guide has many of the assets of life in Bristow. Of course, all of this is helpful for buyers and sellers, but landlords and tenants will probably also find these tools to be somewhat edifying.
Landlord Reference
a useful reference for property owners in Bristow
- Before you move a tenant into your investment in Bristow
- Collections and evictions
- Communications with the renter
- During the lease term
- End of tenancy and what happens when a tenant breaks the lease
- How does the rental investor get paid?
- How your rental manager handles the association and your community
- How your management company handles utilities
- How Nesbitt finds tenants
- Insurance matters for property owners using our rental management
- How Nesbitt Realty & Management manage keys
- Bristow owner responsibilities
- Maintenance, repairs & inspections for your property in Bristow
- The move-in inspection
- Property management information form
- Selling a 1031 tax exchange & more
- Starting our management of your rental property
- When owners don't yet know their new address
- Vetting renters in Bristow